E coli death toll climbs to 20 while investigators search for the source

Officials focus on a German restaurant’s suppliers after it is found to have sold food linked to the world’s deadliest Ecoli outbreak

More than 2,000 people have been affected by the outbreak of the virulent new strain (Getty)

The search for the source of the world’s deadliest outbreak of E coli was
focusing last night on a restaurant in the north German city of Lübeck.

As the death toll from the infection rose to 20, investigators believed they
had tracked the bacteria to the premises where a number of the victims dined
before falling ill.

More than 2,000 people have been affected by the outbreak of the virulent
0104:H4 strain of E coli, including 11 in Britain.

All the UK victims had travelled from Germany, where the outbreak began last
month. Officials there confirmed person-to-person infections were occurring.

Scientists from the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, which is taking the lead
in fighting the outbreak, believe the strain of the bug may have first
surfaced at the annual Port Birthday Party Festival, which was held in
Hamburg on May 6 to 8. More than 1.5m people visited the